by Miller C. Lashbrook
This season was fun… but it was not my favorite. I am not saying this season is not worth anybody’s time; I think anyone who enjoys these characters will find something to like about this season. It just feels like this season really enjoyed pulling the rug out from under me as a viewer, multiple times. I will definitely be returning for a fourth season if they make one, but I think season 2 still remains as peak Umbrella Academy for me.
SPOILERS BELOW
I am going to break up the spoiler section of this review by character and the arcs that worked for me and those that did not. I will start with the negatives and then end with the positives.
Character Arcs that Did NOT Work:
- Allison: Allison has been one of my favorite characters on this show, and I loved her arc in the second season. I hated her arc this season. Her anger leads to betrayal, but there is no real resolution with her siblings for all the tension. She gets her happy ending and that is it? The relationship between Viktor and Allison is one of my favorites of the show, so to see that torn apart in this season was really hard to watch. I think if we had seen Allison and Reginald interact more as a duo, her betrayal might make more sense.
- Diego: Meh. As you will see below, I enjoyed watching Lyla become part of the group. But, I really struggled to enjoy Diego’s arc this season. I get attached to his new kid only to learn that the kid is not his kid. I get Lyla’s point in doing this, but from an audience point of view, I did not. Also, the opening scene of Season 2 teased so much more for Diego’s powers and I would like to see him get to that level so that he can participate more in the big fights.
- The Sparrows (Except Ben): The Sparrows are such a waste. It is so frustrating to spend time with these characters. only to lose them. Fei is such a cool character that also showed some emotion, and I am so bummed to lose her. Only two of the Sparrows survive the season: Ben, who I will talk about below, and Sloane, who has cool gravity manipulation powers, but it treated like a prop to Luther’s storyline.
- Sir Reginald: I really hoped that we were going to learn more about Reginald this season, since we got the tease of him being an alien in Season 2. It also seemed like Klaus was going to help peel back the hard exterior of Reginald. But this was the same mysterious, hard-exterior man that we knew before. I understand that for the story he needed to still be rough to the kids, but we as the audience could have at least learned some more.
- Five: Another meh. I love this character and I just wanted to see more than him spouting exposition.
Character Arcs that Did Work:
- Klaus: Klaus is one of the best characters to come out of a Netflix original and he continues to shine in all of his scenes. His half of all the scenes with Reginald are fantastic!
- Luther: My fiancé and I both felt like our re-watch of the first two seasons and this season turned us around on Luther. We really have grown to like him as a character. I know that his big flaw (like our new Ben) is needing to impress his father, but I wish that Luther’s death could have mattered a little more. But overall I really enjoyed watching him evolve as a character.
- Viktor: The way that this show decided to work in Elliot Page’s journey as a transgender man into Viktor’s story was amazing. It makes sense with his journey and fits the actor. It just works. I also loved watching his family accept him for who he is. Viktor is finally part of the family in this entry and it is really sweet to watch.
- Lyla: I am glad that she too is part of the “Umbrellas”.
- Ben: I am glad to have Ben back and I am glad that it seems that he is here to stay. I will be interested to see where they take his story, with the tease of another Ben in the end-credits-scene.
Overall, this season was a fun watch, but I know the show can be better and bigger. I was hoping to get another moment like the “Everybody” or “Dancing with Myself” moments from season 2. It felt like the “Footloose” scene in Episode 1 was supposed to be that, but it felt forced. I think this show still has more to offer, so I will keep watching, and hoping for a better season 4.
3/5 Christophers 📦
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